Robyn Brown has Kody Brown all to herself since Christine, Janelle, and Meri left him, but the Sister Wives star says living alone with him hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies.
Last season on Sister Wives, viewers watched the beginning of the end of the big, plural family Kody had always dreamed of.
Within a span of 13 months, Kody went from being a husband to four wives to being a husband to one wife.
Christine announced to the family that she was leaving Kody and Flagstaff and moving back to Utah with their youngest daughter, Truely, during Season 17 and, off camera in 2021, she and Kody formally announced their split.
During the Season 17 Tell All, Janelle and Kody dropped a bomb when they announced their separation, and then earlier this year, Meri and Kody issued a statement informing Sister Wives fans of their split.
Not only was it Kody’s dream to grow old with four wives, but Robyn has always envisioned having sister wives by her side in her golden years too.
Kody lived a polygamous lifestyle for 33 years, but now that he’s down to one wife, Robyn, they’re getting a taste of monogamy.
And according to Robyn, it’s been a rocky road as her husband, Kody, navigates his new normal as a man with only one wife.
The 44-year-old mom of five recently spoke with PEOPLE ahead of Sister Wives’ 18th season and dished on her struggling marriage to Kody.
Robyn admits that it’s been ‘hell’ being married to Kody while he deals with his divorces from Christine, Janelle, and Meri
During her interview, Robyn revealed, “No one should be married while they’re going through a divorce.”
In fact, Robyn added, “It’s been hell,” noting that Kody has “tried to self-sabotage and sabotage us. I’ve had to work hard not to let him.”
“I feel like we failed,” the TLC star said of her, Kody, Christine, Janelle, and Meri’s once-plural marriage. “The commitment we made — we were all in this together. We screwed it up.”
While Robyn deals with Kody sorting through his losses, she has since enrolled herself in therapy. And although things didn’t last between Kody and Christine, Janelle, or Meri, Robyn is still committed to the father of 18.
Robyn told PEOPLE, “I never thought I wanted to leave. I know how much I love Kody. He’s doing his best.”
Robyn became Kody’s only legal wife in 2014, meaning his marriages to Meri, Janelle, and Christine were strictly spiritual
Robyn entered the Brown family in 2010, becoming Kody’s fourth wife. When she met Kody, Robyn was a divorced single mom with three kids of her own: Dayton, Aurora, and Breanna.
After they spiritually wed in 2010, Kody and Robyn welcomed two biological children, Solomon and Ariella. Four years later, Robyn became Kody’s sole legal wife after Meri legally divorced him so that he could adopt Robyn’s three eldest children in 2014.
Since Meri, Janelle, and Christine weren’t legally married to Kody at the time of their splits, there were no legal divorces involved. And since the family is no longer affiliated with their former religious faith, there was no need for their church’s leaders to grant them a divorce.
As Christine explained during an episode of Sister Wives, while still a member of their church, she would have had to ask church leaders for permission to be granted a divorce.
Paperwork must be filled out before the divorce can be approved, proving that the marriage is broken. However, a spiritual marriage means a spiritual divorce, so Kody’s ex-wives are all legally permitted to remarry if and when they choose — and, as we know, Christine has already started the process.
Kody recognizes his abiding bond with his ex-wives
For his part, Kody acknowledged that he and his ex-wives have a forever bond because of the 13 children they share between them.
“It’s been painful, a lot of finger-pointing and blame,” Kody told PEOPLE. “But you have to hope we still have a friendship in the future. Because we’re bound forever through our kids.”
Season 18 of Sister Wives premieres on Sunday, August 20, at 10/9c on TLC and Discovery+.